SOMERVILLE — Everybody loves great bargains in this economy, especially for designer clothes. And it is the season for giving and making others happy. One website covers all these bases, making shopping a charity cause. TraTutti.com is a consignment website that prides itself in saving and giving. It resells lightly worn designer clothing for low prices and donates a portion of the profits to Boston based charities.

"We donate 20 percent of what we make to six charities," said website founder Ashley Judge. "Tra Tutti keeps forty percent of the money, and the last forty percent goes to the consigners who donate the clothing."

Tra Tutti donates to AIDS Action, Big Brother Big Sister, Dress for Success, MSPCA, The Home for Little Wanderers and Rosie’s Place. When you shop from Tratutti.com and buy something, you can choose which of these charities you want your twenty percent to go to. When you finish up and pay, Judge writes a check and sends it to the charity of your choice. There is a reason their motto is "couture with a conscience."

Judge considers herself a young entrepreneur. She has a large background in non-profit business, managing events for Goodwill and then becoming the Manager of External Affairs for Ambassador Swanee Hunt in Cambridge. Then she decided to create a company based on a new business model.

"I wanted to take this nonprofit experience and combine it with my other two passions: bargain hunting and fashion," explained Judge, "Tra Tutti is absolutely a for-profit entity, but we’re a ‘social enterprise,’ a business for the common good with goals of success that don’t just include being financially successful.”

This is how it works: if you own any designer clothing in good condition, then you can send it to Tra Tutti and they will sell them for you. You can even have Judge and her crew goes through your closet and helps you clean out what you no longer wear. When it’s sold, Judge returns forty percent of the profits back to the consigner. Then Tra Tutti keeps the remaining forty percent. This way, everybody benefits.

Every few months Tra Tutti also holds a sales event with Kick Ass Cupcakes. This is a joint venture with Kick Ass Cupcakes owner Sara Ross. She also sees the appeal of donating to charities.

"Kick Ass Cupcakes donates hundreds of cupcakes a week to charity events all over the city," said Ross.

These events, called "Couture and Cupcakes," allow shoppers to check out a selection of designer clothes while enjoying free cupcakes and champagne.

"I think this is a great idea", said one Tra Tutti shopper, who declined to give her name, "It’s not going to make me feel guilty because usually when you shopping you feel guilty because your selfish. But in this case you’re shopping and you’re making everybody happy and your making these charities happy."

The next Couture and Cupcakes even will be in February, so log on to TraTutti.com for details. While you’re there, check out the selection of great clothes for great prices, and don’t forget to choose your favorite charity you want your money to go to.

The wonderful website, FabSugar has gotten a sneak peek of EVERY SINGLE ITEM being launched on November 14th as part of Tamara Mellon of Jimmy Choo’s collaboration with H&M. The collection has a lot of edge — with studs, animal print, leather and suede. My favorite pieces?

Always a fan of flats, I’m loving the zebra print and studs.

And the edgier all season studded sandals to die for…

I think the zebra print flats are the only reasonable things I could wear to work, but everything else will be fun to peruse.

Will you be lining up at your favorite H&M to snag the first pieces of the collection?

Talk about shoe obsessions. A new monthly online society called ShoeDazzle.com has launched on the net and fashonista Kim Kardashian is giving it a seal of approval. Better yet, she’s choosing what shoes to send to the members who pay to receive new, of the moment, shoes delivered to their door. Many of us will benefit from not going to the stores and fighting for those heel deals, I’m just not sure our closets will be too happy.

Kardashian teamed up with LegalZoom founders, Robert Shapiro and Brian Lee, to deliver clientele trendy, affordable shoes every month. ShoeDazzle.com taps into the expertise of Hollywood stylists who recommend shoes for customers based on people’s fashion personality as determined by the site’s “style sensibility questionnaire.” The site offers a highly personalized shopping experience at the affordable price of $39 per pair, including shipping.

To learn more about the site, and of course about the shoes, Ms. Kardashian herself, Co-Founder and Chief Fashion Stylist, spoke to Blast about the endeavor.

Blast: In knowing that you have very good fashion instincts but also high fashion taste, what led you to create a site that offered fashionable but most importantly, affordable foot wear?

KIM KARDASHIAN: I love high fashion but am equally a fan of stores like H&M and Forever 21; so looking good doesn’t always mean you have to spend a million bucks. I started ShoeDazzle because I know that all women love shoes, and with the economy the way it is right now, some people feel like they have to forgo fashion trends because they don’t have the means to buy the styles they want.

BLAST: You wear great outfits and have experience with clothes, why focus on shoes; and, is there a plan to expand on this idea to introduce new items?

KK: ShoeDazzle.com gives women a way to wear their favorite trends, and have a Hollywood stylist choose shoes for them for $39. It can’t get much better than that. I already have the clothing store I share with my sisters, DASH, and my closet re-organizing business. It just seemed like a natural fit to add shoes into the mix-especially because I love them so much.

BLAST: Where did the concept to create a “quiz” where women can tell their preferences and then be updated on what is in stock for them via e-mails come from?

KK: We knew that in order to provide custom shoe choices for each member we were going to have to find out more about the member and her individual style. What better way to do it than with a quiz? To me, the style sensibility quiz on the site is sort of a mix between a questionnaire on a dating site and one of those entertaining quizzes in women’s magazines. The mix of the two allows us to find out about each customer while also keeping it brief and fun to take.

BLAST: What do you hope customers will enjoy the most from your new business?

KK: For me, the best part of ShoeDazzle.com is the personal shopping experience and the chance to be paired with a Hollywood stylist that picks shoes for you. That is a service that can cost hundreds of dollars and something that most women just don’t have access to.

BLAST: How has the relationship with your partners made the product better?

KK: I’ve known Bob Shapiro for a long time. He’s a close family friend and a really smart guy, which makes him wonderful to work with. And the fact that he and Brian Lee, our other partner, had such success with the Legal Zoom concept made me feel confident that they knew how to bring the right technical experience to make ShoeDazzle work the best it could.

BLAST: Why would you recommend your site and what would be the one piece of advice you give to costumers who are putting together an outfit?

KK: I’d recommend ShoeDazzle because everyone woman deserves some personalized attention when it comes to shopping, and hey, you can never have to many shoes. And this way, you have a new pair of trendy shoes every month of the year and you are always looking updated and stylish when you go out! My advice to customers looking to put together a great outfit? Shoes make the outfit! They are the best accessory.

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“I realize that not every woman has the opportunity to shop on Rodeo Drive or Madison Avenue, but I still think that every woman deserves A-list treatment,” she added. “That is why I partnered with some of the smartest men I know to develop a shopping forum that is not only convenient to use but that also offers styles I would wear myself.”

After launching March 19, ShoeDazzle opened its services exclusively to 5,000 charter members. Those wanting to join the “society” after the initial 5,000 members will be added to a waiting list and will be notified as soon as additional memberships become available.

Shapiro and Lee founded LegalZoom.com together in 2001. It’s an affordable at-home online legal document preparation service site. They’ve taken their extensive web experience and fused it with Kardashian’s spot-on fashion sense to create a simplified and personalized shopping experience for every ShoeDazzle member.

“ShoeDazzle is the right business at the right time. Women love shoes and want to look great but they demand value,” said Lee. “At ShoeDazzle, we cater to our members’ needs and desires by leveraging our talented team of fashion experts, led by Kim, to choose gorgeous shoes and to offer them at an incredible price.”

Spa Week has some fabulous giveaways this month with‚ something‚  for everyone, a $1,000 Spa Week gift card, a pair of Manolos, a case of wine, a free vacation to Peter Island Resort, beauty products, and more. Yes, you read it right.‚ 

Spa Week Media Group Ltd., ‚ an integrated boutique marketing and public relations firm that specializes in the niche spa industry was founded in 2003 by‚ Cheryl Reid of New York. By reaching spa owners directly and offering treatments, regularly costing hundreds of dollars for only $50 the concept of having a website promoting these deals grew at a great rate. At first only having 25 spas‚ participating, there are now‚ Spa Week chapters in more than 21 cities nationwide.‚ ‚ ‚ 

“In three short years, Spa Week has gone from one of Manhattan’s best kept secrets to a nationwide spa enthusiasts’ dream. ‚ My goal is to have Spa Week in every American city that has a high proliferation of day spas to accommodate eager consumers looking for affordable indulgence and a peek into the future of wellness. I’m confident that the future of Spa Week will assist in educating Americans on the importance of spa as a part of a new and improved healthy lifestyle campaign,” said Reid.‚ 

It is very easy to maneuver through the website, finding your city and spas offering deals near you. After booking your treatment you can check out the giveaways tab and enter to win as many goodies as you like, equally simple.‚ 

This month Spa Week and Rioja wine are bringing you a chance to win a pair of Manolo Blahniks or a case of delicious red wine. ‚ Heroes of the beauty industry like Chris McMillan and Pat McGrath, from Allure Magazine, reveal their secret beauty weapons this month too and give away the fabulous products and tools they speak of.

With the economy slowly settling, and your cuticles probably‚ suffering form those at-home manicures, you are better of booking an affordable treatment at Spa Week that will cheer you up and not leave your wallet empty. And if you don’t want to get a treatment, you should still enter to win those Manolos!

Combine a zest for life, effervescent personality, the hunger for political knowledge and an old-school approach to handmade knit wears and fashion, and you’ve just scraped the surface that is the essence of designer Jamie Kreitman.

Most famously known for her stylish, comfortable and celebrity-worn line of funky and colorful flip flops, this Ditmas Park Brooklyn, N.Y. native’s passion wasn’t always just fashion.

“My passion was Arabic and Safardic Judaism, Middle Ages, Middle Eastern Philosophy and religion which is what I went to school for,” Kreitman said. She jumped from first year level Arabic language studies to a graduate level in one summer Kreitman said, revealing her thanks to Hebrew University’s
program.

Kreitman received her Master’s from Columbia specializing in Hebrew, Arabic and Middle Eastern studies. But after coming to the realization during the 1980s that there “was no need” at all for someone with her educational background and passions, she fell back to a childhood love of fashion, especially sewing and handiwork such as embroidery, knitting and beadwork. Not many can say they asked for a sewing machine for their bat mitzvah, received one and used it frequently and with gusto.

After seeking advice from an adviser at Columbia, it was clear to Kreitman she should study at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. She earned the prestigious Critic’s Choice Award and after graduating she worked at Tahari for a short while before starting her own namesake line.

“The shoes are ancillary, I had been a knitwear designer since I got out of FIT and I created this company in 1991 from unemployment money,” Kreitman said. When she discussed the beginning of her business she said, “Our high-end sweaters are all produced domestically, and in the early 90s women worked and suit jackets and suits were in high demand. My team and I concentrated on great whimsical jackets in the style of Moschino and we garnered quite a market.”

**

However, despite being a supplement to Kreitman’s line of knit wears and accessories, her flip flops have adorned the feet of such names as Felicity Huffman, Paris Hilton, Vivica A. Fox and Emma Roberts. Most recently, a Conde Naste editor emailed Kreitman saying that Carrie Underwood wore her flip flops to an Allure cover shoot because they wanted to know all about the shoes that the star wouldn’t take off.

“It’s nice to know that these people are wearing them. Shandra Wilson loved our ballet shoes. And Marcia Gay Harden wore our ballet shoes after having her twins since she was running all over the place,” Kreitman said.

The shoes didn’t start off as a fashionista must-have. They were actually a gag birthday gift Kreitman designed for friend and mentor children’s designer, Ruth Hornbein. “She got stopped everywhere and in 2000 she said we have to do a line.”

For the designer however, it all comes back to her roots. “My favorite thing to design is knitted sweaters. My strength is actually in sitting down at a knitting machine and knitting my own fabrications and coming up with new design patterns, hands using textured yarn.” She said she realizes that she has to evolve to be more commercial, as any designer does. “My strength has always been the whimsical approach to knitwear that we called ‘tongue-in-chic’, basically clothes that make you smile and make you happy.”

There are many differences between Kreitman’s line and mission and other designers and brands out there.

“I know how to knit and sew, I’m not at a computer designing. I know how to do handwork, embroidery, and whatever other kind of hands-on crafting like beadwork and handstitching, whatever needs to get done. I can sit down to a sewing machine and I can sit down to a knitting machine and that’s why I feel the line is a little different.”

Additionally, Kreitman’s target audience isn’t the teeny-bopper set predisposed to wear whatever Lindsay Lohan is donning for the week.

“We would hope our target audience is the young fashionista but really it’s educated consumers with a fine eye for the sophisticated and cultured styles. People who have been exposed to travel, and Europe.”

She is a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Sex and the City” but a critic of “Project Runway’s” flamboyant drama.

“I am put to the test everyday, the same tests that they (the contestants) are put through on Project Runway. But you have to make it work on a production level, a manufacturing basis.”

As for kicking back in front of the television, she said that when she closes her doors at night she doesn’t want to watch a drama about her daily fashion grind. “I want to relax with legal and medical dramas.”

**

Kreitman said of her design team “We’re die hard fans (of Sex and the City). We mourned the day it went off the air. It was so inspirational from a fashion point of view, and now people aren’t too excited about fashion.”

Kreitman realizes designing is a tough business and that not many people can last and evolve and grow with the times. She said she feels that you have to be well read, well educated and have a good grasp on the world around you to make it in the business.

“Fashion isn’t a vacuum, it’s happening in the world. It’s a product of our culture and it reflects culture.”

And while she isn’t in a business pertaining to her former passions of Middle Eastern language, cultures and studies, Kreitman’s love of fashion and passion for quality and handmade pieces that her line exemplifies shines through.

“You gotta real love what you do. And you have to know that most of it is nitty gritty but you have to have fun with it. If you don’t what’s the point?”

For the latest in Jamie Kreitman’s NY fashion line head to the designer’s Web site at http://www.jamiekreitman.com.

Dear EarthTalk: It is true that the carcasses of whales that wash up on shore are considered dangerous to humans because of the amount of toxins and chemicals in their blubber? – Michael O’Loughlin, Tigard, Ore.

Whether wildlife officials in a given region consider a dead beached whale a biohazard or not is local decision, but nevertheless experts agree that only trained professionals should go anywhere near a dead wild animal to prevent the spread of bacterial infection alone, no matter whether any industrial pollutants might be oozing out. But regardless, it is true that some types of whales, given their spot at the top of the marine food chain, do harbor chemical pollution in their fatty tissue and organs.

Researchers have found, for instance, that PCBs, dangerous toxins notorious for polluting New York’s Hudson River and long banned in the U.S. are present in the blubber of beluga and orca whales, among others, in amounts-some 80 parts per million-that could kill a person. DDT, a pesticide banned in 1972 in the U.S. for wreaking havoc on bird and other wildlife populations, also still shows up in measurable amounts in whale blubber around the world.

Beyond such well-known pollutants, newer ones are starting to show up in large amounts in the carcasses of beached whales and other top marine predators. Today biologists are most worried about the marked increase in flame retardants (PBDEs) and stain repellents (PFOS) in dead marine mammals. Flame retardants are particularly troublesome because they “seem to travel over long distances in the atmosphere, and some studies have shown that they can be toxic to the immune system and can affect neurobehavioral development,” according to a recent report by the Arctic Council, a multilateral international body in charge of overseeing Arctic law and development. The report also noted that PFOS does “not seem to break down under any circumstances,” meaning it is passed up the food chain to whales and other top predators, and then in some cases consumed by humans, especially indigenous Arctic people still hunting marine animals as part of their subsistent lifestyles.

According to the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), whales aren’t the only wild animals carrying around large amounts of toxic chemicals. Bottlenose dolphins, manatees, polar bears, seals, sea lions and other marine wildlife also have PCBs, DDT, PBDEs, PFOS and the other pollutants in their tissues and bloodstreams. “The large-scale die-off of bottlenose dolphins along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States in the mid-1980s may have been the direct or indirect result of increasing levels of toxic waste from industrial sources,” HSUS reports, adding that “such pollutants can depress the immune system of marine mammals, making the animals susceptible to diseases they could normally fight off.” Another example: Polar bears in Norway have been exhibiting serious congenital abnormalities; HSUS blames exposure to toxic pollutants in the bears’ otherwise pristine environment.

Environmental and health experts worry about such contamination because many of the chemicals in question are known “endocrine disruptors,” meaning they can impair reproduction in both wildlife and humans by mimicking or altering natural hormonal activity. Such chemicals can also cause neurological problems and developmental or skeletal abnormalities.

CONTACTS: Arctic Council, www.arctic-council.org; HSUS, www.hsus.org.

Dear EarthTalk: I’ve found environmentally friendly shoes for myself, but have had trouble finding similar shoes for my kids. Are they out there? – Dawn Masterson, Augusta, Ga.

Kids’ shoes are a quickly expanding market and companies with a green perspective are now jumping into the race with mini versions of everything from flip-flops to slippers to heeled dress shoes. While green kids’ shoes from makers like Simple, which offers organic cotton EcoSneaks with car tire soles, might seem expensive at $40 or more, they are durable enough to get passed around from sibling to sibling. “It is an investment if you’re going to do quality,” says Craig Throne, general manager of footwear at Patagonia.

Patagonia has been making climbing gear and outdoors wear for over 30 years, and is committed to using sustainable materials-including recycled polyester and only organic cotton in their clothes. Using hemp and recycled rubber content, the company has created kids’ shoes that are rugged and sturdy enough for hiking or climbing, or for simply running around in the back yard.

Of course, packaging plays a big role and in Patagonia’s case that means 100 percent recycled content boxes with soy-based inks and fun graphics that encourage kids to reuse the boxes. “We’re getting kids to participate and be more aware of the outdoor world,” says Throne.

Timberland has launched its own line of sustainable kids’ shoes, too. “Kids today are learning about the environment at a younger and younger age-in many cases, they’re even teaching their parents,” says Lisa DeMarkis, head of Timberland’s kid’s division. “It’s important to show kids that even small choices can have a positive impact.”

The company strives to use the most environmentally friendly materials when possible-like recycled soda bottles (PET) in linings or meshes, recycled laces and organic cotton canvas-while always making sure that the shoes meet performance goals: “At the end of the day, the shoe has to stand up to kids and their daily adventures,” DeMarkis says. Curious customers can read the “nutritional labels,” which include the amount of renewable energy used in production, right on Timberland’s 100 percent post consumer recycled shoeboxes.

Parents looking to avoid leather in their kids’ shoes, whether for ethical or environmental reasons, have to do a bit of hunting online. While many vegetarian and non-leather clothing sites have yet to add kids’ shoes, KidBean.com has, including the popular baby shoes called Isabooties, which are made with soft, synthetic Ultrasuede.

For parents of budding dancers, a vegan alternative ballet slipper can be had from the Cynthia King Dance Studio in Brooklyn, New York. The dance instructor and studio owner approached a local shoemaker when she couldn’t find an affordable outlet for vegan slippers, and now provides them to the world at large.

CONTACTS: Cynthia King Dance Studio, www.cynthiakingdance.com; Isabooties, www.isabooties.com; KidBean, www.kidbean.com; Patagonia, www.patagonia.com; Simple, www.simpleshoes.com; Timberland, www.timberland.com.

GOT AN ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTION? Send it to: EarthTalk, c/o E/The Environmental Magazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; submit it at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/thisweek/, or e-mail: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.